Meijer gets kudos and good PR by opening stores in Detroit, but in northern Michigan, things aren't so rosy.
Some residents in and around tiny Acme, northeast of Traverse City, tell say Francis X. Donnelly of The Detroit News they's boycott the chain when it opens there this fall:
Part of this northern Michigan community has been fighting the Meijer superstore and nearby development for 15 years.
The vicious battle, which has split the town of 4,300, involved lawsuits, a criminal probe and the ousters of two township boards.
Meijer leaped into the family fight in 2007 by secretly financing a failed attempt to recall the board.
The grocery chain eventually apologized, paying $190,000 in state fines and, with developers, $4 million to settle lawsuits by elected officials.
"Meijer has done terrible things in this community," said lifelong resident Charlene Abernethy. "It made this place dirty."
